Emperor addressing his Soldiers 1537 - 1550

Antonio Fantuzzi created this print, Emperor Addressing his Soldiers, sometime in the 1540s. It's an etching, a printmaking process involving biting lines into a metal plate using acid, then inking and pressing the plate to transfer the image to paper. Fantuzzi was one of the key artists working at Fontainebleau, near Paris, and the etching technique was central to the artistic project there. Its great advantage was portability; designs could be multiplied and distributed, acting as propaganda for the refined taste of the French court. The very qualities of etching lend themselves to this purpose: the crispness of line, the capacity for intricate detail, and the capacity to print many impressions from a single plate. The material of the print itself becomes a medium for the dissemination of cultural authority. Thinking about the material, making, and context of this work is essential to understanding the full picture, moving beyond the traditional boundaries of fine art and craft.